Five people, of whom four may have been children, died in an early morning fire that ripped through a townhouse building in Vancouver Monday, officials said.The cause of the fire was not immediately known but the fire department was treating it as suspicious. Department officials said witnesses had described hearing an explosion.Police cordoned off several blocks around the townhouse complex in their investigation and a school near the building was closed.Television pictures showed a burning building on the east side of this Canadian Pacific Coast city. There were reports that the victims were all members of the same family, but officials said that could not be confirmed immediately.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin struck back at recent U.S. criticism of his policies Wednesday, suggesting that Washington puts its political interest above democratic ideals and emphasizing that Russia must increase its military and economic clout to resist foreign pressure. In the seventh state of the nation address since his 2000 election, Putin concentrated largely on domestic issues, calling for measures to reverse a demographic decline that has shrunk Russia's population by millions since the Soviet collapse. But amid increasingly vocal American criticism of his domestic and foreign policies, Putin also issued a veiled but clear response to Vice President Dick Cheney's accusations that Moscow is rolling back on democracy and strong-arming its ex-Soviet neighbors. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/10/world/main1605049.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_1605049

Skype, the Web telephone company, said on Monday it is offering a promotion through the end of 2006 that will allow Skype users in the U.S. and Canada to make free calls to conventional wireline and mobile phones.In a surprise move, Skype, a unit of online auctioneer eBay Inc., is seeking to improve usage of Skype in the North American market, where interest in its voice over Internet technology has lagged other regions of the globe. Previously, Skype users in both countries were required to pay for Skype calls from their PCs to traditional telephones. The company counts more than 100 million registered users worldwide. It has reported peak usage of its services by up to 6-1/2 million customers simultaneously....http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1963282

Saddam Hussein today refused to enter a plea as the judge leading his trial formally charged Iraq's deposed leader.Asked whether he was guilty of the torture of women and children, nine counts of murder and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shia Muslims in the 1980s, Saddam insisted there was no short answer and that he was the rightful leader of Iraq."You are before Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq," he told the chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman. "I am the president of Iraq according to the will of the Iraqis, and I am still the president up to this moment," he said. "I can't just say yes or no to this. You read all this [aloud] for the sake of public consumption, and I can't answer it in brief," Saddam replied, standing and holding a copy of the Koran. "This will never shake one hair of my head."...http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1775438,00.html?gusrc=rss

Mexican President Vicente Fox has voiced concern over US plans to use the National Guard to patrol the border. But, in a 30-minute phone conversation, President George W Bush is said to have assured him that the move did not mean a militarisation of the border. Mr Bush is due to announce the plans in a speech on Monday as part of an effort to help curb illegal immigration. There are an estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the US, about half of them of Mexican origin. The Bush administration has insisted that Mexico is still regarded as a friendly country. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4771637.stm

Weakness in the US dollar has continued to overshadow global stock markets as investors offloaded exporters on fears that corporate earnings will decline. Commodity markets have also slumped, with traders beginning to ask if recent record prices were justified. London's main FTSE 100 index shed 1.4% to 5,828, led by the mining firms that have been the year's best performers. Germany's Dax shed 1.5%, France's Cac slid 1.3%, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%, and India's Sensex slumped 3.8%. One stockbroker in Germany explained that: "Investors are extremely nervous and the sell-off is hectic as people are trying to minimise their losses." Banking giant HBOS added that: "Risky assets are under significant pressure across the board." ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4771495.stm